End of: CBSO bans happy snappers
OrchestrasThe following notice has gone up in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, ending a year of unnecessary chaos.
The boss was wrong. Will she admit it?
Comments
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At last! A lot of ill-feeling would have been saved if this had been done immediately after the Bostridge debacle last May, and recalcitrant attitudes from the top had not prevailed. Bad PR, all that. But no lessons learnt, one suspects. God, no: that would be to admit one was wrong. Heaven forfend.
Er, nothing has changed in the policy, which as several of the very many previous posts on SD make clear, is: photos only when music is not being played – during applause for example. It may not always have been effectively communicated or enforced but this is not the volte face you seem to think it is.
More broadly I don’t know what ill the CBSO boss has done to Norman or his loyal fans here but this petty campaign and frothing at the mouth by old bores in the comments section are all a bit tedious.
Jim, you are completely incorrect here and either uninformed or being disingenuous.
Previously: “We are very happy for you to take photographs and short video clips at our concerts. We ask that you are mindful of disturbing artists and other audience members and suggest that you take pictures and videos during applause breaks.”
From September: “We are happy for you to take photos and short videos at our concerts during applause breaks. We ask that you are mindful of disturbing artists and other audience members.”
Do you see the difference?
The CEO previously encouraged people to record and send in their videos to the marketing team.
I am mustering my best Bronx cheer for your remarks. Taking photos and videos during the performance is ridiculous and should be (and has been) ridiculed, here and elsewhere.
Emma could have avoided so much badwill had she embraced and listened to others.
She instead thought, with zero music experience, she knew better than everyone else.
Emma’s marketing team gave out flyers asking people to record concerts at the same time Emma was sending e-mails to subscribers saying that phone use was discouraged. Subscribers saw the contempt and bridges were burned.
About time too!
Funny how a Trump victory helps people return to a bit of common sense.
We will see about that. The Clown Car returns.
And the Crook Car is leaving.
Silly how the Internets got people so worked up over something that happens everywhere today. If people want to take photos, let ’em. Who cares??
Did you not see the fuss about it distracting performers and fellow audience? That’s why. Duh.
Yes, I saw it. Most performers are trained to ignore such distractions (if they are actually distractions). Those who forget that training should probably be in a different line of work.
And fellow audience? You’re clearly not a performer. Actors get very angry in theatres (I’ve worked with them) and rightly so. You’re wrong. It’s all about the performance. Cameras divert and distract. There’s just nothing that justifies. Full stop.
It depends on the context. If I am performing in a serious (= subscription series stateside, I guess) concert, then I don’t expect to see somebody’s smartphone’s red light flashing behind the conductor’s arm. God forbid I ever play at an Andre Rieu gig, but it would be more likely there, and I’d expect those players are used to it.
Trained, though… Really?
Don’t say, who cares when you are obviously without any awareness of what it is to be at a Classical Music concert. Or are you just stupid?
Looks like she just has.
Wonder what pressure was brought to bear. Artists saying they would not appear if the shoot-at-will policy was retained; a board more responsive to artist and public protest at the interference the happy snappers inflicted; threats…
In any case, it’s a good outcome, and perhaps the beginning of a change in attitude on the part of ES. Let’s see.
Quite so, but those like Stenning don’t change their attitudes; dogma rules over art and the interests of the loyal patrons. I won’t raise my hopes, and if it happens, then I’d be delighted to be proved wrong.
About time
This is very welcome, although it is a notice from B:Music (the company behind Symphony Hall) not from the CBSO itself.
The story of the new CEO has been discussed extensively here. Particularly damning was when she wrote to subscribers to tell them that she was not encouraging phones, when in fact flyers had been given out asking people to record and share their videos to the CBSO marketing team.
After the Ian Bostridge incident in April, where the CEO undermined Bostridge in national media after he asked audience members to put away phones, complaints accelerated but the CEO dug in her heels.
However, in September, the guidance was finally changed in a very subtle way.
Previously: “We are very happy for you to take photographs and short video clips at our concerts. We ask that you are mindful of disturbing artists and other audience members and suggest that you take pictures and videos during applause breaks.”
From September: “We are happy for you to take photos and short videos at our concerts during applause breaks. We ask that you are mindful of disturbing artists and other audience members.”
After the worst start where she alienated so many CBSO supporters, there is at least the tiniest amount of evidence she is listening.
All beautifully summed up, Fact Check. There won’t be a public apology, though. As I have said many times. She is recalcitrant.
The Ceo disease
Everyone here conveniently ignoring the phrase ‘during applause breaks’ in order to stir up this storm in a teacup. Let’s also ignore the fact that Emma Stenning has succeeded in widening the demographic attending CBSO concerts. Or perhaps that’s what many on here are worried about?
You are missing the point. Only merely ‘suggesting’ respectful behaviour in a concert is disrespectful to both musicians and audiences.
Not sure she was wrong after the initial ‘wrong’. Did she not subsequently announce that photos could be taken during applause or something like that? If so, the new directive certainly does not ban that!
See above from Fact Check. I have the CEO emails.
After the outcry, nothing changed for months. Most messages of concern were dismissed or ignored.
The policy was finally changed on the quiet in September. She was not able to admit directly that she got it wrong.
Why don’t we just unite in making it a rule and teach our audiences that pictures and short clips can be taken during the applause? Being an artist myself I am not particularly happy when unauthorised clips of my performances are flying around on the internet. Especially when so many of those are of low sound quality. But I understand that people want to share in social media if they attended an extraordinary performance and such pictures or clips of the applauded artists boost our publicity and indeed can encourage people to attend artistic events.
The issue isn’t the artist, who is paid to perform for the audience. The issue is that it disturbs people who have paid for a ticket and spoils their enjoyment of the concert.
Will she admit it? After the loss of many loyal audience members and donors, the departure of experienced admin staff, widespread disillusionment amongst players, and a tarnished global reputation, perhaps now is the time.
Two points:
At Stalls door 2b there was also a sign concerning a CBSO photographer at work but the wording was inoffensive.
No pointless time-wasting intro. Instead the conductor making sensible remarks to the audience before Beethoven 4.
So back to normal, thank goodness.
I’d been hoping we’d heard the last of this. For committed members of the CBSO audience like me, last season was often needlessly and hurtfully unpleasant. But we’re now in November and there has been no NEW nonsense or insensitivity yet. We all needed to get over last year, and to be honest I thought we had.
Indeed – I agree – and who caused it? And who therefore needs to admit responsibility and apologise to so many people?
And this is why orchestras should die out. You can have a “human experience” while taking video, yet the performers get so deeply offended and believe it is so offensive to their entire work. I’ve gladly left the high stress, low wage, no benefits job of freelance gigging because there are simply no advantages financially or entertainment value after one has already learned the rep, played the rep, and become the rep.
But, most importantly, if you care about what others do and try to control others, you’re the problem and you need to read the book The Four Agreements. You cannot control others, and no one will come to concerts if you take their phones away during a performance. Why is this such a point of contention? The issue is not the phones, it’s what people do with the phones. The intention, the heart.
So few orchestras truly have much to offer now that I can’t find on the Berlin Digital Concert Hall that it makes attending a concert almost pointless now. Who cares if people have phones? You cannot regulate every single person, and it would be utterly foolish to think you could.
I was at Rigoletto at ENO last Thursday night. The cast are superb, singing, acting faultless but…a woman in front of me took out her phone and snapped Rigoletto and Gilda in Act 3 at the plots climax. Suddenly a camera blocked,my view and my concentration was lost. I was furious. I’m still cross.
The Usher on duty said he had had to rush all over the dress circle to stop filming and photography. He spoke to the woman near me. My evening was spoiled, I couldn’t sleep when I got home. How do the cast bear it with flashing lights and cameras taking their images with no redress? ENO MUST STOP IT NOW. I bought 6x tickets for the next few weeks but I won’t return unless they sort it out. I am sure others feel the same.
Does their audience know what “refrain from” means? I bet some imagine it means “avoid over doing it”.
The construction is archaic.
Plain English: Please do not take pictures or video while the orchestra is playing.
The moment the taking of photos/videos in a small part of the concert experience is encouraged, you can bet a considerable amount that someone or some group will disobey the advice and start snapping during the music. How often do we hear mobile phones ringing despite its ban having been announced before concerts for years now? The fact is that some people have a habit of forgetting or deliberately ignoring instructions to the detriment of musicians and audience. Any encouragement of mobile phones can and sometimes will backfire. The lady at the heart of this issue could easily have a short professionally filmed promo video of a concert showing the orchestra playing in the foyer with anyone encouraged to film or photograph that.